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Dwarf Swordsmen
|upkeep_cost = |num_figures = |moves = |melee = |defense = |resist = |hits = |abilities = Mountaineer Large Shield }} Dwarf Swordsmen are a type of Normal Unit that can be recruited in Dwarven Towns containing at least a Barracks and a Smithy. Swordsmen are a basic combat unit available to all Races, with a signature trait of being better defended against Ranged Attacks than other low-tier units. Dwarf Swordsmen, in particular, are also incredibly sturdy and, as a result, may be able to take on more advanced units, although their offensive power does leave something to be desired. They can become somewhat stronger with though. Dwarf Swordsmen have a Construction Cost of . As the most basic military unit of their Race, they only have an Upkeep Cost of , and require no to maintain. However, failure to pay this cost will still result in the unit being disbanded automatically. Unit Properties Physical Description Dwarf Swordsmen are a group of short, stocky, bearded humanoids. They wear colored leather tunics, wield swords for close combat, and carry large, dark-grey shields to protect themselves from arrows and other ranged attacks. Dwarves have a terrific constitution, and do not succumb easily to either damage or ill magic. They are at home in mountainous terrain, although this comes at a cost of being unaccustomed to open spaces. Dwarf Swordsmen are a , containing up to soldiers. Attack Properties Dwarf Swordsmen possess a Melee Attack that will initially only be threatening to other low-tier Normal Units. They have an Attack Strength of , which yields an average "raw" output of per Swordsman. While this can be decent against lighter armor, it's not quite enough to consistently hurt well-protected opponents. Dwarf Swordsmen do get better with though, both in strength and accuracy. At the level, the maximum normally attainable, their attacks will do over twice this much - points of "raw" , on average, per Swordsman. Defensive Properties Dwarf Swordsmen are lightly armored, possessing a Defense score of . They can deflect about points from Conventional Damage attacks, on average. Unfortunately, this is rarely enough to avoid anything but the weakest attacks. Like all Swordsmen however, they carry Large Shields, which grant an extra against all types of Conventional Damage that is delivered at a range. This brings their average reduction up to against , , and , as well as , , the hidden Conventional component of most Gaze Attacks, and all spells and effects that deal Conventional Damage, including Area Damage. Dwarves are exceptionally sturdy. Even their common foot soldiers, such as Dwarf Swordsmen have . This gives them very good survivability in battle, and means that they can sustain a higher output for longer, since it takes more to kill each individual Swordsman. Their base Resistance score is also the best in their tier - with , they stand a good chance at shrugging off Unit Curses and other combat maledictions. Their , , and even also improve with . Other Properties Dwarf Swordsmen move at a slow , and can only traverse land tiles. Like most Dwarves, Swordsmen also possess the Mountaineer ability, which allows them to traverse Hill, Mountain, and Volcano tiles for a movement cost of only . However, since their Movement Allowance is only this much too, this by itself will not grant them any tangible benefit. On the other hand, they also move slower on Grassland, requiring to enter each tile. Fortunately though, this will acually not affect them either for the same reason, unless their base speed is increased through magic. Basic Strategy Unlike other Races, Dwarves can not train Spearmen, making Dwarf Swordsmen the most basic combat unit available to this Race. This has some important consequences. First of all, it means that Dwarven Cities need to construct Town Buildings to be able to produce any military units at all, and even then have to settle for one that has an archetypal Construction Cost that is twice as much as the norm. On top of this, Dwarves have a racial multiplier of on the cost of "standard" units, which makes Dwarf Swordsmen, their cheapest unit, cost a total of 5 times as much as the first unit available to some of the Arcanian Races - versus . Even though this is offset somewhat by the increased productivity of Dwarven Workers, it still results in a much slower unit training speed in the early stages of the campaign. On the other hand, Dwarf Swordsmen are quite durable, and take three times as much to destroy than most other Swordsmen, promoting a strategy of preservation over replacement. That is, it is often more efficient to try and withdraw any heavily injured units from the frontline than to recruit new ones, provided that the rest of the army can still win the battle. They can then either reinforce or replace Town garrisons to promote their recovery. Another consequence of being the most basic military unit of their Race is that Dwarf Swordsmen cost no to maintain. This alleviates some of the expenses of Dwarven empires, while also lending itself to a different recruitment strategy. Namely, the purchasing of units instead of waiting out the normal production time. Although this is a more generic approach that can be taken with any other Race too, it comes more naturally to Dwarves due to their townsfolk generating twice the normal amount of . Ability Overview Large Shield * This unit receives a Defense bonus of against all types of Conventional Damage delivered at range - including all Ranged Attacks, short-range attacks, and . Mountaineer * This unit, and any others grouped with it on the overland map, may move through Hill, Mountain, and Volcano tiles at a rate of 1 Movement Point per tile. On the other hand, Grassland tiles cost them to enter. * Should the stack also contain a Forester, the Movement Type of the group becomes Pathfinding instead, allowing them to enter any tile that they normally could for a cost of only . Experience Table The following table illustrates how Dwarf Swordsmen improve with Experience. Any properties that are not listed here are not affected by in any way. * To achieve this level, either the Warlord Retort or the spell must be in play. ** To achieve this level, both Warlord and must be in play simultaneously. Average Damage Output The table below details the average amount of "raw" that each in a Dwarf Swordsmen unit will deliver based on . It can be used in comparison to the target's Defense rating to approximate the chance of hurting that target. Acquisition Dwarf Swordsmen may be recruited in any Dwarven Town that has both a Barracks and a Smithy already built. The Construction Cost of this unit is , which is two and a half times as much as that of the archetype. This means that even with the Production bonus of Dwarven Workers, they take nearly twice as long to train as the Swordsmen of the more mundane Races, at least until the City's output gets high enough to create them in a single turn. Dwarf Swordsmen may also appear as Mercenaries, provided that the player has a presence on Myrror. In this case, they cost between to to hire per unit, based on their - or half that much for Charismatic Wizards. Category:Units Category:Normal Units Category:Dwarves Category:Swordsmen